Assessing Personality Traits Through Response Latencies Using Item Response Theory (original) (raw)

Personality scale response latencies as self-schema indicators: The inverted-U effect revisited

Personality and Individual Differences, 2007

In two studies, we examined the relationship between participants' responses to the items in the NEO-PI Big Five personality inventory and their response latencies to the same items. Extending previous research, we used polynomial regression analysis to examine if the relation between participants' position on each of the Big Five factors and their average response latencies (regarded as self-schema indicators) across items on the same factors is characterised by a curvilinear (inverted-U) trend or not. The analyses in both studies yielded consistent support for a quadratic (curvilinear) relation between personality scores and response latencies for all Big Five factors. Those scoring high or low on a factor responded faster than those scoring around the mean, which lends support to the notion that the relation between personality scores and response latencies is characterised by an inverted-U effect. The results are discussed in the light of previous attempts to examining the inverted-U effect as self-schema evidence. Further, we discuss the potential of using response latency data to improve precision in personality assessment and prediction.

Person-Item Distance and Response Time: An Empirical Study in Personality Measurement

Psicologica International Journal of Methodology and Experimental Psychology, 2006

This study assessed the hypothesis that the response time to an item increases as the positions of the item and the respondent on the continuum of the trait that is measured draw closer together. This hypothesis has previously been stated by several authors, but so far it does not seem to have been empirically assessed in a rigorous way. A computerized version of a 22-item two-scale personality questionnaire was administered to a sample of 286 respondents. The item responses were fitted using the two-parameter IRT model and a person-item distance measure was derived. Productmoment correlations between the log-response times and the person-item distances were obtained over respondents within each item. In both scales all the correlations were negative, as expected from the theory. However, most of the correlations (effect sizes) were small. The potential usefulness of the results for personality measurement is discussed.

Fitting Item Response Theory Models to Two Personality Inventories: Issues and Insights

Multivariate Behavioral Research, 2001

The present study compared the fit of several IRT models to two personality assessment instruments. Data from 13,059 individuals responding to the US-English version of the Fifth Edition of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) and 1,770 individuals responding to Goldberg's 50 item Big Five Personality measure were analyzed. Various issues pertaining to the fit of the IRT models to personality data were considered. We examined two of the most popular parametric models designed for dichotomously scored items (i.e., the two-and three-parameter logistic models) and a parametric model for polytomous items (Samejima's graded response model). Also examined were Levine's nonparametric maximum likelihood formula scoring models for dichotomous and polytomous data, which were previously found to provide good fits to several cognitive ability tests . The two-and threeparameter logistic models fit some scales reasonably well but not others; the graded response model generally did not fit well. The nonparametric formula scoring models provided the best fit of the models considered. Several implications of these findings for personality measurement and personnel selection were described.

An Item Response Theory Analysis of Response Stability in Personality Measurement

Applied Psychological Measurement, 2001

An item response theory model of response stability is developed, based on the local independence principle. The model predicts response changes under repeated administrations of the same instrument using item and examinee parameter estimates as predictors. Real data were used to assess how the model functioned. Results indicated that the model predictions were approximately fulfilled. Limitations of the model and the empirical study are discussed. Index terms: item response models and personality, local independence principle, personality measurement, test-retest stability.

A model of personality test item response dissimulation

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1992

A general model of faking on self-report personality test items is proposed and empirically evaluated. The model predicts that differential test item response latencies should be faster for schemacongruent test answers than for noncongruent responses. Thus, individuals faking good should take relatively longer to endorse socially undesirable test item content than desirable test item content. Conversely, individuals faking bad should endorse socially desirable test item content relatively slower than undesirable test item content. Support for the model was found to generalize across personality inventories and across populations of university students and maximum security prisoners. Conflicting results from previous research are viewed in terms of the model. Further testing of the model's generality and practical relevance is discussed.

Two item response theory models for analysing normative forced-choice personality items

British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 2006

This paper proposes two unidimensional item response theory (IRT) models for analysing normative forced-choice personality items. Both models are derived from a common theoretical framework and arise as a result of different assumptions regarding the mechanism of choice. The simplest mechanism gives rise to the one-parameter normal-ogive model. The second mechanism gives rise to a new IRT model, which is closely related to the Coombs-Zinnes probabilistic unfolding model. The second model is compared theoretically to the normal-ogive model in terms of item characteristic curves and amount of item information. Next, procedures for estimating the respondent and the item parameters in the second model are described. Finally, both models are empirically compared by using two well-known personality measures.

Individual response spread in self-report scales: personality correlations and consequences

Personality and Individual Differences, 1998

We consider the phenomenon of individual differences in the use of questionnaire scales and examine some of its consequences. Results from two illustrative studies on farmers and consultant doctors are used to demonstrate that individual standard deviation of response option usage is a consistent trait which is significantly correlated with the personality dimension of conscientiousness. A mathematical model of individual response spread is also devised and it is shown that significant spurious correlations between responses to independent items can arise. This model is extended by estimating individual response thresholds from our two illustrative data sets; numerical simulation using these thresholds confirms the occurrence of spurious correlations. The distribution of correlation coefficients r is also very different from the standard form used for estimating levels of significance. There are widespread consequences of these observations for standard multivariate methods of analysing self-report data.

Use of item ratings to examine personality test item cognitive response processes

1996

This research examines the processes respondents use to answer personality test items. A total of 158 true/false items from four scales of the Personality Research Form and the California Psychological Inventory were used as stimuli. University students (N = 120) responded to each item and indicated one of nine strategies used in deciding on a response. Obtained response strategy ratings for items were reliable and their frequencies corresponded closely to previous findings with other items. Subsequently, the associations between item response strategy frequencies and item-total correlations were computed. Congruent with previous research. better items avoided behaviours or experiences and evoked responding based on traits and on referring to the statements of others. The associations between item response strategies and other indices of item quality are discussed and implications regarding scale development are offered.

Dredging the OCEAN.20 : an item response theory analysis of a shortened personality scale

2013

Valid and reliable personality assessments are important tools for personnel selection, so long as they are efficient and free from bias (Mount & Barrick, 1995). Undergraduate students (N = 503) completed the OCEAN.20, a brief 20-item self-report measure of the five factors of personality (O'Keefe, Kelloway, & Francis, 2012). Classical test theory methods had already established the scale's reliability and validity, as replicated in the present study, but item response theory analyses identified nine problematic items. Three items displayed differential item functioning, three items had a truncated range of responses, and three more items had low precision. The potential for bias or insufficient information offered by each item is cause for concern, as it could have serious consequences in determining a job applicant's fate, so it is advised that these items either be removed or revised prior to operational use. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.